Is an agreement still possible?
The head of American diplomacy believes it in any case.
Antony Blinken estimated Wednesday in Tel Aviv that there remained “room for an agreement” on the hostages between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Netanyahu, however, seemed to bury any hope of a truce earlier in the evening, announcing that he had asked his troops to “prepare” an offensive on Rafah, the town located in southern Gaza.
“There are clearly unacceptable things in Hamas' response” but “we think that this opens up room for an agreement to be found and we will work tirelessly on it,” said Antony Blinken, on tour in the Middle East for the fifth time since October 7.
“Israel has an obligation to do everything possible to ensure that civilians are protected and obtain the assistance they need in the conduct of the conflict,” he however ruled.
“Any military campaign undertaken by Israel must first and foremost” protect civilians, he insisted, noting that there were “ways to do that”.
Speeches that “stir up tensions”
In his discussion with the Prime Minister and other senior Israeli officials, Antony Blinken also indicated that he had highlighted the “deep concerns” of the United States about “acts and speeches” which “stir up tensions”, “undermine support international” and undermine “Israel’s security”.
A warning which seems to target the Israeli Prime Minister.
Benyamin Netanyahu had declared a little earlier that the security of Israel and “the peace processes in the Middle East” depended on only one thing, according to him, “the total victory” of the IDF over Hamas.
“Hamas leaders will repeat October 7 again and again,” he warned.
“Military pressure led to the release of around a hundred hostages (during a truce last November) and only the continuation of this military pressure will allow the return of the remaining hostages,” he also estimated.
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According to Tel Aviv, nearly 130 Israelis are still believed to be detained by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
However, some could have died in bombings carried out by the Israeli army or during urban fighting.
The city of Rafah, the only one that remains for the moment preserved from the urban fighting between Hamas terrorists and IDF soldiers, concentrates tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, displaced by the war.
“Our soldiers are today in Khan Younes (the town in the center of the Gaza Strip).
They will soon be in Rafah,” promised the Israeli Prime Minister.